Sunday, April 02, 2006

85. lamps.

I love Droog Design, and 85 Lamps is just one of the reasons why. Or just 85 of the reasons why if you want to count it like that. This is currently THE chandelier I want hanging over my dining room table. It's also pretty much what it says it is, which is 85 bulbs strung together. So many that it requires professional installation and has to be hung from something that can support 55 pounds of bulb glass. Totally worth it in my opinion. And I won't even complain about the $2,350 price, which is just $27 per bulb. Bargain!

P.S. I always tell design stores who want to sponsor Funfurde that I really don't take direct paid ads, but I would consider trading a sponsorship for an 85 Lamps chandelier. That's how much I like it. Let's see if I get any offers...

13 Comments:

I've always said exactly this to myself--it does look relatively simple. That said, I'd love to see a how-to article on making one of these. In particular, I'd like to find out where to get those sweet connectors.

Looks a little bit like a bunch of flowers hanging upseide down. I'm into things that look like other things at the moment. Check out Ruminant Bloom Lamp - this is the ultimate in 'what is that lamp made of?':-)

We have two of these in our split parlor in London (one in front half of room and one in back half of room) and one of them was previously over a dining table in another house.

I have to say, they're almost a perfect design, and not that simple to replicate. Here are some salient points with them:

1) You have to have special transforming dimmers to use them, which is just something to be aware of. So it's not just a home project that much because of the transformers.2) Each individual bulb is like 15 watts or so, so none of them is putting out that much light, but the combination of them really can put out both light and heat.3) The bit at the top is just as important as the bit at the bottom. Essentially, there's a cascade of european-style electrican connection blocks (if you've done any wiring in Europe you'd recognize them instantly) which looks really elegant, and only up close can you realize that the items are really cheap individually but just used ingeniously.4) People often say "what happens when one burns out? they must burn out all the time?" But the thing is that because there are so many right next to each other, unless one right on the edge has burned out, you won't even notice until like 15 or so burn out, because the light from the ones next to it will just fill the bulb, and it'll look just fine. Then you just replace a bunch of them simultaneously.

But I have to say that you've got good taste if you like them. If nothing else, they really are virtually the perfect modern chandeliers!

What I call the "Bare Light Bulb Routine" has been a lamp designer's visual gag for many years. This particular variation was around for a while. If you read "Metropolis " magazine or attend the ICFF in NYC, you will see this year's "Enfant Terrible" showing yet another bare bulb lamp. Also, it's always the same artsy quote and goes something like this... "I have reduced the visual components of the lamp to it's indivisable essence, thus allowing the viewer to appreciate the illumination itself, rather than concentrating on the object....blah, blah blah"